How many people have you offended either deliberately or unintentionally in your life? Even the meekest of you will have upset a number of people during your lifetime. Most of us as children were taught the above proverb, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.’
The purpose of the proverb was to teach us that, while we cannot use our minds to protect ourselves from physical injury, we can use our minds to protect ourselves from emotional injury. People only have the power over us that we give them. We can either let them live rent-free in our minds or we can reject them and their hurtful words. The proverb is about providing ourselves with mental strength and a shield when hurtful things are said.
It is true that hurting a person’s feelings can cause emotional pain and sometimes, in extreme cases, it can leave long-term psychological damage; but at the end of the day, it is not illegal to deliberately hurt someone’s feelings let alone unintentionally.
If my point of view or my religious belief upsets someone how can I be criminalised and punished for the emotional reaction of others that are completely out of my control?
Punishing me for upsetting someone unintentionally would hurt my feelings and cause emotional harm so it is a circular and illogical rabbit hole to go down. quote.
Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle knew she had to sack Israel Folau after receiving “hundreds” of messages detailing how harmful his controversial social media posts were.
Castle said she had to stand up and send a strong message after speaking to parents whose children idolised the Wallabies star, but were also struggling with their sexuality.
Folau’s four-year, A$4 million contract was torn up on Friday in the wake of him posting a biblical quote on social media which said homosexuals would go to hell unless they repented. end quote.
If Folau expressing a common Christian view on hell, repentance and sinners, causes harm to gay children mentally and he has been fired because of it, then it naturally follows that ANY Christian currently employed anywhere should lose their employment if they express any religious view that any child or adult may find upsetting. Think about that for one minute.
How is Falou responsible for those gay children idolising him? As their self-chosen idol, why is he expected to change his religious views to suit this small group of fans? Why can’t they choose another idol? Why on earth are they lobbying to destroy his career if he truly is their idol?
Honestly, if that is all it takes to cost someone their career I suggest we all declare that Jacinda Ardern is our idol but, as we are conservatives, her policies and actions have hurt our feelings so terribly that we want her fired. Honestly, I have nightmares and can’t sleep at night. I want the pain to stop. Please, please make my idol go away so that I can get some much-needed sleep. I just need to know which SJW management person in Labour that I need to send my message to. quote.
[…] “The posts are harmful, they are very harmful. I’ve had hundreds of people contact me about the specifics of the harm, it made them relive how they found it really difficult to come out.
stuff
“Parents of young children have contacted us saying ‘I’ve got a 15-year-old who really looks up to Israel and is struggling with his sexuality’.
“Those things are really difficult to hear and make it very real,” she said.
Castle said there was no attempt from either party to make peace through an apology or sanction that would have kept Folau in the game.
“We needed to stand up and say we’ve got values, we’re prepared to stand by them and we’ve got a player that’s not living by those values,” she said.
“It (the post) was causing harm and was against our values. We believe it was a direct breach of contract and we had no choice but to seek termination.”
Yeah they have values alright but they do not include the values of respecting religious freedom and free speech. The greatest harm from this decision will be to the bottom line of Australian Rugby. Take away all the Christian players and what will they have left?
They accuse Folau of not living by “their values” because they feel that they have the right to deny him his own personal values. Was he an employee, or a slave? Did they expect to control his soul as well?
Raelene Castle should have heeded the proverb. Australian rugby will now be at the mercy of every single SJW in the country. They might as well ban all use of social media by all of their players right now because they have set an extremely low bar and the attack on Folau is only the beginning.